DFC exchanges jokes at midnight comedy show

he once had to address a foreign policy crisis in the middle of a Halloween party at his home and talked on the phone with Pentagon officials wearing a Dracula mask. The Vice-President said in the future, such make-up 8220;might help if it was like a warning to Saddam Hussein8221;.

Asked about his reaction to Bill Clinton8217;s interview to Esquire

magazine, in which the President suggested that Congressional Republicans should apologise for his 1998 impeachment as a result of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Gore replied with another joke. 8220;I8217;m still waiting for the Republican Congress to apologise for electing Newt Gingrich Speaker,8221; he said laughing. But after those two quips, he struck a serious tone, repeating his claim that he was his 8220;own man8221;.

8220;I8217;ve made a decision that I8217;m going to campaign on my own,8221; said Gore. 8220;I8217;m campaigning as my own person, with my own voice, with my own agenda for the future. That8217;s just what feels right to me.8221;

He rattled off his stump cliches about supporting a woman8217;s right to choose on whether to have an abortion, a middle-class tax-cut and the environment. 8220;I want our country to be the kind of country where people want to vote where they think it makes a difference because we are in charge of our own destiny,8221; the Democratic candidate continued. 8220;And that means campaign finance reform is important.8221;

By the end, Gore produced a joke about possible changes at the White House, should he be fortunate enough to move into it. 8220;Instead of these boring Saturday radio addresses, I8217;ve been thinking about a Presidential monologue every night at about 11:30,8221; he said, referring to Leno8217;s long opening monologue at the top of his program.